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Post by Crash Enburn on Nov 6, 2017 23:40:17 GMT -5
The AWANA group at my church held their AWANA Grand Prix on Saturday. As I'm the resident pinewood junky, they asked me to run the race (set up the track, run the software). I finished getting everything set up on Friday, got home and ate dinner, and then decided I should build a car for the leader/outlaw race. I started building the car at 8:30. At midnight, I was done.   I finally used Micro's jig, and added in some bushings from the teflon tubing that Chuy shared with me. The jig is kinda like cheating; it took no time at all to get the rears lined up and drilled. The tubing looked like I cut a very small piece off, but it looks huge on the car. I'm not convinced one way or the other about the effect on friction/speed. I came in second place in the outlaw race, losing to a heavier car on piano wire axles and thin wheels (from RC planes) by ~0.007s. I won a trophy.  Compared to the other 5oz cars submitted by the kids/parents, my car was faster by ~0.05s (35' Best Track). I'm not sure at all what it means. I was pretty happy with its performance, especially with the short amount of time spent on it. |
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Post by jspearm1983 on Nov 7, 2017 0:58:39 GMT -5
Congratulations on a fast car. I have the Microbrush jig as well, and I can't imagine anything better. I'm getting perfect drills almost every time.
Unrelated, I cringe every time I see Awana wheels. My kids are in Awana at our church and we have to use those wheels each year. Yuck.
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Post by Chuy on Nov 7, 2017 2:39:40 GMT -5
3.5 hours, it takes me 3.5 months. I agree about the jig, dead nuts with mine. Now if he could crate a Jig for painting
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Post by twarwick07 on Nov 7, 2017 8:37:08 GMT -5
way to go crash, i know all about the last minute build
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Post by Crash Enburn on Nov 7, 2017 11:34:48 GMT -5
Thanks, guys. I believe that with the exception of one race, we've never spent even close to a week on an AWANA car. I will say in regard to the wheels, this teflon tubing is a great addition. The AWANA wheels have exceptionally big, exceptionally square inside hubs. The tubing only hits the hub in a really small section of it, with the lowest angular friction point possible.
A paint jig, Chuy? Gotcha covered. To hold the body, I use pant hangers from the stores (the kind with clothespin-y squeeze grips on the ends) to hold the body while I paint it, and then to hang it up while it dries. And USE LACQUER SPRAY PAINT. Seriously. That stuff dries in seconds and looks great. Get automotive filler primer from your local auto parts shop and use that as your base coat. It fills in the wood grains perfectly. While at the parts place, pick out your favorite Duplicolor color — they are almost always lacquers*.
You can paint enamel over lacquer, not the other way round. So, one option is to paint the car with the lacquer spray, then let your kids add their designs to it using paint pens. Ends up looking great, and is done by the kids.
*If you can't see on the can whether a can claims to be a lacquer or an enamel, look at the instructions for the respray and dry times. If it says, "respray any time", it's a lacquer. If it says, "respray within 30 minutes or after 48 hours", you've got an enamel. Put it down and walk away.
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Post by Crash Enburn on Nov 7, 2017 11:37:49 GMT -5
I did spray this car, by the way. I used some matte clear as a base (I figured that primer is matte, so this must work the same), then clear coat over that. Gave it a light sanding, and then used some paint restoring wax to cut through any extra texture and bring a shine to it.
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Post by jspearm1983 on Nov 7, 2017 11:59:22 GMT -5
I need to check out the Teflon tubing. I have tried the little Teflon and delrin washers but am never happy with them once they're mounted to the body.
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Post by Chuy on Nov 7, 2017 12:50:24 GMT -5
Thanks, guys. I believe that with the exception of one race, we've never spent even close to a week on an AWANA car. I will say in regard to the wheels, this teflon tubing is a great addition. The AWANA wheels have exceptionally big, exceptionally square inside hubs. The tubing only hits the hub in a really small section of it, with the lowest angular friction point possible. A paint jig, Chuy? Gotcha covered. To hold the body, I use pant hangers from the stores (the kind with clothespin-y squeeze grips on the ends) to hold the body while I paint it, and then to hang it up while it dries. And USE LACQUER SPRAY PAINT. Seriously. That stuff dries in seconds and looks great. Get automotive filler primer from your local auto parts shop and use that as your base coat. It fills in the wood grains perfectly. While at the parts place, pick out your favorite Duplicolor color — they are almost always lacquers*. You can paint enamel over lacquer, not the other way round. So, one option is to paint the car with the lacquer spray, then let your kids add their designs to it using paint pens. Ends up looking great, and is done by the kids. *If you can't see on the can whether a can claims to be a lacquer or an enamel, look at the instructions for the respray and dry times. If it says, "respray any time", it's a lacquer. If it says, "respray within 30 minutes or after 48 hours", you've got an enamel. Put it down and walk away. So what are some name brands I should be looking for or where is a good source of lacquer spray paint? |
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Post by micro on Nov 7, 2017 13:23:56 GMT -5
Good Job Crash. That is nice of you to help out with the event.
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Post by Crash Enburn on Nov 7, 2017 14:08:31 GMT -5
Chuy - Top of my head, most of my paint is by Duplicolor (Autozone, O'Reilly's, Pep Boys, etc.), though Testors (model paint) has a line of lacquers as well. Rust-o-leum has lacquers, too. Pretty much, any metallic spray paint will be lacquer. When looking at spray paints, usually the whole family of spray paint will be the same kind — the non-metallics at Home Depot/Lowe's are all enamels.
Just take a gander at the label for dry times and you'll know.
JS - I cannot attest to whether or not the tubing would be deemed legal at many races. There's usually a blurb in the rules saying "Wheel bearings, washers, and bushings are prohibited", but then fail to define what that is. I think that the tubing would fall into the washers category. But if the teflon is inset, and thus part of the body? :rolleyes: But, they are really easy to get on and off the AWANA (larger than BSA) axles.
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Post by Professor Moriarty on Nov 7, 2017 14:36:14 GMT -5
Nice work Crash!
3.5 hours! That has to be a new speed record right there!
Chuy,
I use Krylon spray paint almost exclusively...I think they only make lacquer based paint... never came across a can that was otherwise.
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Post by Chuy on Nov 7, 2017 19:15:42 GMT -5
Chuy - Top of my head, most of my paint is by Duplicolor (Autozone, O'Reilly's, Pep Boys, etc.), though Testors (model paint) has a line of lacquers as well. Rust-o-leum has lacquers, too. Pretty much, any metallic spray paint will be lacquer. When looking at spray paints, usually the whole family of spray paint will be the same kind — the non-metallics at Home Depot/Lowe's are all enamels. Just take a gander at the label for dry times and you'll know. JS - I cannot attest to whether or not the tubing would be deemed legal at many races. There's usually a blurb in the rules saying "Wheel bearings, washers, and bushings are prohibited", but then fail to define what that is. I think that the tubing would fall into the washers category. But if the teflon is inset, and thus part of the body? :rolleyes: But, they are really easy to get on and off the AWANA (larger than BSA) axles.I If that is the case, it may be easier to get a solid rod (1/4" or so), drill the body and insert the rod and then use the Micro Jig to drill the axle holes in the inserted Teflon. |
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Post by Crash Enburn on Nov 8, 2017 10:22:48 GMT -5
Still pretty much falls to whoever is checking the rules.  In my experience, the people checking would gloss over that, and try enforcing non-rules (wheel gaps, clearance, etc.) The reason I mentioned the "easy to get on and off" is that, should you get called out on it, you can remove it. You really need only have the body hard and slick at the DFW. |
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In my experience, the people checking would gloss over that, and try enforcing non-rules (wheel gaps, clearance, etc.) The reason I mentioned the "easy to get on and off" is that, should you get called out on it, you can remove it. You really need only have the body hard and slick at the DFW.